KOSOVO: CHANGES IN HARADINAJ'S POLITICAL PARTY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000449 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI SUBJECT: KOSOVO: CHANGES IN HARADINAJ'S POLITICAL PARTY PRISTINA 00000449 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ramush Haradinaj was handily re-elected president of the party he founded, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK),during the party's May 20 convention. Other prominent AAK members lost votes as compared with their standing at the party's last convention in 2004, namely Minister of Energy Ceku, Minister of Trade Dugolli, and former Prime Minister Kosumi. The AAK is Kosovo's third largest political party, but its influence exceeds its size because of its position in the governing coalition. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) is relatively small, but its Kosovo political footprint spreads far and deep. Created in 2000 by former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Regional Commander Ramush Haradinaj, the AAK owes its position as junior member of the governing Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)-AAK coalition to Haradinaj's personal charisma. The AAK holds only nine seats in Kosovo's Assembly, one mayorship in Decan/i municipality, and received only 7.8 percent of the vote in the 2004 general election, but has gained practical political authority since 2004 by forming a government with the LDK and through that coalition securing the post of prime minister. The party is driven by the force of personality of its leader Haradinaj, whose March 2005 indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and subsequent resignation as prime minister only increased AAK's public popularity among the ethnic Albanian majority. Members of the AAK not only hold Kosovo's premiership but also five of 14 ministerial posts (ethnic minorities get three set-aside ministries for their leadership). ¶3. (SBU) At the party's fourth convention on May 20, some prominent AAK leaders -- including Minister of Trade Bujar Dugolli, Minister of Energy Et'hem Ceku and former Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi -- lost votes versus their totals from the 2004 convention. Internal elections among convention delegates for a 27-member party presidency were conducted with open lists by secret ballot with the following results: Haradinaj was re-elected as party president with 455 of 479 votes; Ahmet Isufi (AAK's general secretary) replaced Bajram Kosumi as the party,s number two, and Kosumi dropped to seventh place. The top ten vote getters in order: Haradinaj; Isufi; Naim Maloku (AAK's member of Kosovo,s Assembly Presidency); Jonuz Salihaj (Minister of Justice); Ibrahim Selmanaj (Minister of Labor and Social Welfare); Gjylnaze Syla (AAK,s Kosovo Assembly caucus leader and one of only two women elected to the party presidency); Kosumi; Ali Berisha; Arben Qirezi (new AAK member and political advisor to Haradinaj and current Prime Minister Agim Ceku); and Ardian Gjini (Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning). Dugolli went from 7th to 19th place; Kosovo,s Standards Coordinator and new AAK member Avni Arifi rounded out the top 20. AAK internal party statutes also give new AAK member Agim Ceku, as Prime Minister, an ex officio seat on the party presidency. After the vote, local press speculated that Kosumi's poor showing would presage his departure from the AAK; he responded by saying "I haven't yet decided." ¶4. (SBU) AAK's general secretary Ahmet Isufi, a former KLA commander and Haradinaj loyalist told poloff and polFSN that Haradinaj's political party was gaining adherents due to the combination of his personal appeal and the uncertain future leadership of the LDK, Kosovo's largest party, after its founder President Ibrahim Rugova's death in January. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT. Personalities dominate Kosovo's political scene, political parties have stood for little other than Kosovo's independence, and Haradinaj is doing all he can to secure his small party's position in the coalition government. In particular, Haradinaj can be counted on to use his influence discourage the AAK prime minister from removing AAK ministers from office in any reshuffle following Prime Minister Ceku's promised performance evaluation. END PRISTINA 00000449 002.2 OF 002 COMMENT. ¶6. (SBU) Post clears this message in its entirety for release to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. GURIAN